Source: 
Leigh Lawrence is a math hacker.
Lawrence disliked math in school but now teaches it to elementary school students at Kelly Springs Elementary School. Lawrence said that she learned to love math after finding tricks and hacks that allowed her to master math skills she had trouble understanding.
“I had a tough time learning multiplication tables for eights,” she said. “Then I realized that all you have to do is double the product of the multiplication tables for fours.”
Lawrence’s approach to teaching math – using strategies and shortcuts to make it easier – has paid off for her students. Kelly Springs Elementary School recently was the fifth place overall winner in a national math competition sponsored by Matific.
The school’s fifth grade classes were ninth among all fifth grade classes that participated in the event.
According to Matific, thousands of schools participated in the competition, so Kelly Springs’ achievement is significant.
“We just entered it to give it a try,” Lawrence said. “The kids took it and it just exploded.”
Matific is an online game-based learning tool that gives students practical problems to solve using math. Kelly Springs began using Matific earlier this year.